FLOWERING PLANTS. 21 
somewhat fleshy capillary segments, much thicker than those of the 
submerged leaves, and of a much paler green colour; and a similar 
difference is observable in all the following sub-species, under like 
circumstances. 
Professor Babington considers varieties « and ( as distinct 
species, but to me they do not appear to be entitled to rank as such. 
The peduncles being produced from floating leaves, which is one of 
the characters of R. peltatus, I have found to be invariably the case 
only in two plants in which the submerged leaves are very few: 
one from Castleton of Braemar, gathered by myself, which stands 
in Professor Babington’s herbarium as R. floribundus; the other 
from Sicily, collected by MM. HE. and A. Huet de Pavillon, and 
named Ranunculus trinacrius by them, and which is evidently pre- 
cisely the same form as the Braemar plant. I can see no great 
difference between the stigmas and receptacles of R. peltatus and 
Rt. floribundus. 
The variety y is a very remarkable plant, and may be a distinct 
sub-species, as the Rev. W. W. Newbould inclines to think. 
Professor Babington unites it with R. heterophyllus (Ann. Nat. 
Hist. ser. ii. Vol. XVI. p. 394), with which it agrees in the weak 
collapsing leaves ; but in all other respects it approaches R. peltatus, 
or rather R. floribundus, and is very possibly only a state of that 
plant induced by growing in running water. In habit it closely 
resembles R. fluitans, but has the segments of the leaves shorter, 
much less rigid and less parallel, the stamens longer than the head 
of pistils, and the receptacle hispid. 
Sup-Species I.—Ranunculus heterophyllus. ad. 
Prats XIX. 
Bab. Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. ii. Vol. XVI. p. 393 ; and Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 6. 
Batrachium heterophyllum, /’ries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 140. 
Ranunculus peltatus? “Schrank,” Boreau, Fl. du Cent. de la Fr. Vol. II. p. 12. 
Submerged leaves trifurcate, afterwards repeatedly bifurcate. 
Segments flaccid, collapsing into a pencil when drawn from the 
water. Floating leaves on long stalks, orbicular in outline, nearly 
flat, tripartite, with the sides of the segments next the petiole 
straight, sub-parallel, or forming a very acute angle with each other, 
so that only a very small portion is wanting to complete the circle. 
Segments inversely deltoid, the narrow sinus which separates them 
bounded by straight lines; the lateral segments bifid, and all 
toothed or lobed at the end. Flowers, when expanded, about ? inch 
in diameter. Petals wedge-shaped, obovate, about 9-veined, not con- 
tiguous. Stamens indefinite. Achenes half-obovate, often hispid 
at the tip. 
